MRI
Evidence That Gadolinium-Enhancing Lesions Seen Twelve Weeks After Commencing
Rituximab Treatment Are Associated with Lower Blood-Brain-Barrier Disruption Than
Those Seen Prior to Treatment in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple
Sclerosis

Building on previous findings that treatment with
rituximab results in decreased gadolinium-enhancing (<B>Gd+</B>)
lesion counts and volumes in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple
sclerosis (<B>MS</B>), we found evidence that Gd+ lesions seen
twelve weeks post-rituximab exhibit significantly lower blood-brain barrier
(<B>BBB</B>) disruption than those seen pre-treatment. This
suggests that a continuous classification of BBB disruption in patients with MS
may reveal treatment-related changes that are not detected by the conventional,
binary classification of lesions as being Gd+ or not. Furthermore, our results
suggest that the practical measure of BBB disruption that we used can provide
additional information that is independent of that provided by Gd+ lesion
volume.